This invention relates to disposable cups, and in particular to improvements to disposable cups of the type having a lid portion extending upwardly from one side of a body portion of the cup, configured to flip into a closed position within the body of the cup. Such cups are described generally in the inventors"" U.S. Pat. No. 6,176,420, granted on Jan. 23, 2001, and corresponding Canadian patent no. 2,311,058, granted on Jan. 8, 2002.
Various features of the cups described in the inventors"" prior patents, referred to above, have been modified In order to improve the cups generally, and/or to adapt the cups to certain specific uses.
The lid portion of the cup flips down into the body of the cup, along a first score line, going from convex to concave, as described in detail in the inventors"" prior patents. In the present invention, elements variously referred to as flaps or wings extend preferably from the lid portion near its lateral intersections with the cup body outwardly from the cup, or alternatively from the cup body in the same area, but inwardly. In either case, the flaps overlie what might otherwise be a small gap between the lid and the cup body in that area. This reduces any possibility for liquid to escape via that small gap, for example when the cup is accidentally squeezed or jostled excessively. In the case of the flaps extending outwardly from the lid, the flaps also tend to act as stops against excessive downward rotation of the lid, and provide an easy way to lift the lid to open the cup, if desired.
The cup preferably but not necessarily has two secondary fold lines extending from the first score line to the outer edge of the lid portion, near opposite sides of the lid portion, as in the inventors"" prior patents. These secondary score lines encourage a slightly more vertical orientation of the lid portion outside the secondary score lines, which assists in holding the lid down once closed, though the lid portion is shaped such that it snaps over into the closed position and tends to remain closed even without the secondary score lines.